Cap crimping tool



r A. PODESTA ETAL 3,372,527

March 12, 1968 CAP CRIMPING TOOL Filed Nov. 23, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l m z //Z/ ///flW/////M/// l, M M ,47vys.

Mamh 2, 1968 A. PODESVTA ETAL 3,372,527

CAP CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 23, 1965 4 B D B C m H/ fl/ fiv .7 U

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March 12, 1968 CAP CRIMPING TOOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 23, 1965 l o m n 1 3 .7 A?! fig .FIG.4

March 12, 1968 PopEsTA ETAL': 3,372,527

.CAP CRIMPING T OOL Filed Nov. 23," 1 965 FIGS 5 Sheets-Sheet .5 i

United States Patent 3,372,527 CAP CRIMPING TOOL Armando Pndesta and Carlo Vignati, Milan, Italy, and

Andre Bereziat, Lyon, France, assignors to LAluminium Francais, Paris, France Filed Nov. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 509,376 Claims priority, application France, Nov. 24, 1964, 996,102, Patent 1,423,880 8 Claims. (Cl. 53358) This invention relates to a crimping device for capping the mouth of a container and it relates more particularly to a capping device for mounting a deformable metal or plastic closure in sealing engagement with a beaded or grooved portion about the mouth of the container.

A device of the type described should be capable of application of a cap in sealing engagement with the mouth of the container sufficient to resist displacement in response to the high internal pressures which might exist within the container but without such force as to cause rupture of the container and which permits disengagement of the cap to be effected without damage to the cap or container.

It is an object of this invention to produce a tool of the type described which is effective for operation in a simple and efiicient manner to crimp a cap about a ring or groove which may form lapart of the mouth of a container to effect a sealing relationship therebetween and which operates to crimp a cap onto the mouth of a container to effect a sealing relationship which resists inadvertent disengagement responsive to pressures within the container, which does not create excessive pressures to cause rupture of the container, and which can be displaced for access to the interior of the container without damage either to the cap or container.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which-- FIG. 1 is a sectional elevational view of a fragmentary portion of the crimping tool embodying the features of this invention with the elements shown in position of use for mounting a cap onto the mouth of a container; FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing the elements in an intermediate stage of operation for crimping the cap onto the container;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view similar to those of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the elements in position upon completion of the crimping operation;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevational view similar to those of FIGS. 1 to 3 showing the relative position of the elements during disengagement following completion of the crimping operation; and

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional elevational view of a fragmentary portion of the crimping device suitable for commercial operation.

The invention will be described with reference to the placement of a cap 2 in sealing engagement onto a ring 11 of a hollow body 1 represented in the drawings as an annular bead 11 provided at the mouth of a' glass bottle or container 1.

The cap 2, which is formed of a slightly resilient deformable material, such as of metal, plastics and the like, has a relatively fiat central body portion 21 having a skirt or flange 23 depending continuously from the outer edges of said body portion with an intermediate connecting section 22 shaped somewhat in the form of the letter S. The lower end portion of the skirt or flange 23 is provided with a curvilinear portion 24 wound inwardly to provide a beaded rim. A packing 25 is provided as a lining on the inner portions of the skirt portion for elfecting a sealing relation between the closure cap 2 and the lip of the container about which the cap is crimped. It will be understood that the described cap is given by way of illustration, but not by way of limitation, since caps of other constructions can be employed with the tool of this invention for crimping onto the mouth of a container.

The crimping tool comprises an outer sleeve portion which is made up of an elongate cylindrical section having a crosswise dimension between the walls which is greater than the outer wall to wall dimension of the beaded portion 11 of the container 1. The cylindrical section 110 terminates at its upper end in a fiat crosswise extending plate and at its lower end in a depending resilient stop member having a guide surface 131 on the inner face of a resilient frustoconically shaped depending skirt portion 131*. The sleeve portion 100 'fOlIllS a part of a tool carrier in which the other parts hereinafter described move relative thereto.

The crimping tool comprises a pusher assembly 300 which includes an elongate rod 320 axially slidable through an opening in the plate 120 of the sleeve portion 100 and a pusher plate 310 fixed on to the lower end of the rod located within the outer sleeve portion 100 and in which the pusher plate 310 is dimensioned to be less than the distance between the walls of the cyindrical section 110 for axial displacement therein. The rod 320 is provided with a pair of stops in the form of an abutment 321 fixed to a portion of the rod outside of the sleeve portion 100 and another abutment 322 fixed to a spaced portion of the rod within the cylindrical section 100 thereby to limit the amount of relative movement between the pusher assembly 300 and the sleeve portion 100.

The crimping tool is completed by :an annular punch 200 which is located between the pusher assembly 300 and the sleeve portion 100 and in which the annular punch comprises an upper supporting ring 2-10 having a central opening through which the rod 320- is freely slidable to permit relative movements between the annular punch 20a and the cylindrical section 100 and the pusher assembly 300. Depending from the periphery of the sup porting ring 210 are a plurality of resilient blades 220 arranged in side by side relationship which together define a contour approximating the contour of the head or ring 11 of the hollow body or container 1. The blades are dimensioned to have a length corresponding to the length of the sleeve portion whereby the lower end portions of the blades are adapted slidably to engage the inner surfaces 131 of the frusto-conically shaped skirt portions 131 of the sleeve portion 100 to displace the resilient blades 220 inwardly responsive to movement of the lower end portions of the blades upwardly relative to the skirt. For this purpose, the blades 220 are provided at their lower ends with an outwardly projecting bulbous or curvilinear portion 221 which defines a collar in sliding engagement with the inner cam surfaces 131. The blades 220 are also provided at their lower end portions with a crosswise extending recess or groove in the inner face which functions as a seat for a helical spring member 222, such as a helical spring which is closed on itself at its outer terminals.

Means are provided constantly to urge the punch assembly 200 in the direction away from the pusher plate 310 and in the direction towards the plate 120 of the sleeve portion 100. For this purpose, there is provided a coil spring 230 located within the area defined by the blades 220 and about the rod 320 with one end of the spring bearing against the inner surface of the ring plate 210 while the other end bears against the outer surface of the pusher plate 310. The coil spring 230 operates to urge the elements in a direction mining the stop 321 into engagement with the upper plate 120 and with the ring 210 in raised position in engagement therewith to define the normal inoperative position, as illustrated by the arrangement of elements shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

In practice, the cap 2 can either be secured to the base of the tool for crimping onto the mouth of the container or it can be prepositioned on the mouth of the container, as shown in FIG. 1.

In operation, the tool is moved by the sleeve section 100 in the direction towards the container or the container is moved in the direction towards the tool or, in the alternative, the elements may be moved simultaneously in the direction towards each other for engagement therebetween. For purposes of illustration, description will hereinafter be made of the crimping operation with the tool remaining stationary while the container is raised in the direction towards the tool with the cap 2 positioned on the mouth of the container.

During the initial stages of the operation, the cap 2 on the mouth of the container engages the pusher assembly 300 to effect upward displacement thereof in opposition to the coil spring 230. In response to such upward displacement of the pusher assembly, the stop 321 is raised from engagement with the plate 120 and the rolled edge 24 of the cap is caused to slide downwardly about the head 11 of the container to cause deformation of the cap with the lateral portion 23 being rendered oblique. The spring 222 on the inner face of each of the blades 220 comes into alignment with the bead on the neck of the bottle to cam the blades 222 outwardly whereby the collar 221 slidably engages the inner surfaces 131 of the sleeve section 100. This brings about a movement of the annular punch 200 downwardly relative to the sleeve section 100, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

As the container continues to move upwardly relative to the tool, the spring 222 engages the outer surfaces of the rolled edges 24 of the cap. Since the resilient blades 220 are contained by the frusto-conical section 130 of the sleeve section 100, they are incapable of outward displacement and thus operate to urge the rolled edges 24 of the cap inwardly beneath the bead 11 of the container to crimp the cap onto the container. At the same time, the lower stop 322 comes into engagement with the support plate 210 whereby the annular punch 200 is compelled to follow the rising movement of the container and pusher assembly. This causes the collar 221 to slide upwardly over the frusto-conical surface 131 of the sleeve section to cam the lower ends of the blades for displacement in the inward direction.

At the end of the upward displacement of the container, the stop 322, the supporting ring 210 and the plate 120 of the sleeve section 100 are in contact one with the other with the collar 221 located in its uppermost position of adjustment whereby the pressure exerted by the spring 222 on the rolled edge 24 of the cap will be at a maximum thereby to insure most efficient and effective crimping of the cap onto the mouth of the container, as shown in FIG. 3. The additional material required to permit the described deformation for effecting the crimping action is made available from the S-shaped section 22 in the intermediate portion of the cap.

It will be noted that, in contrast to present devices effecting crimping operations simply by radial crimping of the cap onto the bottle neck, the apparatus described effects true crimping of the cap onto the neck of the bottle. The latter plays an active role in the operation since it brings about stretching of the cap and therefore more effective application of the skirt of the cap onto the ring or bead 11 notwithstanding any imperfections which may exist in the glass or bead. This action is made possible, on the one hand, by the flexibility provided by the spring 222 on the ends of the blades 220, and, on the other hand, by the action of the spring 230 which provides for better orientation for application of the cap onto the bead 11 by the pusher member 310, even before the annular punch 200 becomes effective to commence its action.

To disengage the tool from the hollow body and from the cap crimped in sealing relationship onto the mouth of the container, the hollow body of the container 1 is displaced in a downwardly direction. Downward movement is followed by the pusher member 200 in which the annular punch remains in engagement with the folded portion 24 of the cap but away from the stop 322. Since the outer sleeve section remains stationary, the collar 221 slides downwardly over the frusto-conica-l surface 131 so that the lower ends of the blades 220 are able to move outwardly from their original position and to follow the downward movement of the pusher member, possibly with some delay. The ring 210 moves out of contact with the lower stop 320 and the elements take the position illustrated in FIG. 4.

From this point on, it only remains for the container to become completely disengaged. The spring 222 is maintained in engagement against the lateral portion 23 of the cap in response to the combined action of the frustoconical surface 131 and the spring 230. After disengagement, the tool automatically returns to the starting position illustrated in FIG. 1 and is ready for another cycle of operation.

A tool of the type described is designed to provide for the continuous capping of identical bottle necks. Slight differences which might exist in the shape of the neck will in no way impede the effective operation of the tool because of the resiliency of the blades 220 and of the springs 222.

The collar formed by the assembly of the projections 221 and the frusto-conical section are shown as being located in the lower portion of the punch. Instead, they may be raised in such manner as to occupy the position intermediate below the lower portion and the median por tion of the blades 220. However, there is obviously no advantage in positioning the elements in the vicinity of the upper portion of the blades. This arrangement is utilized in the actual model of the tool shown in FIG. 5.

In this modification, the pusher rod is illustrated as being formed of two portions of different diameter whereby the shoulder formed by the change in diameter is effective to function as the lower stop 322. The upper stop is provided by the nut member 323 and its washer 324. The collar 221 of the annular punch is raised and so is the frusto-conical section 130 against which the collar slides.

The sleeve section 100 is fixed to an outer envelope which carries the stop 141 which limits movement of the base of the punch while preventing excessive deformation of the blades. The envelope 140 also carries a device intended for receiving and centering the cap. This device comprises three fingers 142 which are adaptedto slide in a seating in which their sliding movement is limited by a pin 143. A metal spring 144 urges the fingers of the tool in the direction towards the tool pin.

Other means may be utilized for retaining the cap on the pusher member or in the vicinity of the latter, such for example as a small magnet in the event that the caps are made of a magnetic material, or a drop of weakly adhering adhesive in the event that the caps are made of a non-magnetic metal, a non-magnetic alloy, or of a plastic material.

With the aid of the tool thus described using caps formed of 0.21 mm. aluminum sheet, it has been possible to obtain a closure which did not yield until a pressure of 15 bars had been attained. The disengagement is X-' tremely gentle and has no harmful effects on the crimped cap. Finally, the pressure existing on the neck of the bottle along its axis is sufficiently low so that no breakage occurs even when capping thin walled bottles. The lower pressure exerted on the bottle neck makes it possible to provide the latter with only a single ring or bead 11 thereby to enable elimination of the conventional counter-ring. Finally, the apparatus will function in the desired manner even when the calibration at the mouth of the bottle is not maintained within narrow limits, as is often the case in commercial practice.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of the construction, arrangement and operation without departing fzom the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A tool for crimping a cap onto the beaded or grooved mouth of a container in which the cap is a sheet member having a central body portion, an intermediate expandable portion extending outwardly from the body portion, a skirt portion depending from the outer edge of the intermediate portion and a bead on the end of the skirt, said crimping tool comprising the combination of a stationary outer sleeve section, a pusher assembly and an annular punch mounted intermediate the sleeve section and the pusher assembly, Said sleeve section comprising a cylindrical section having a crosswise dimension greater than the crosswise dimension of the cap and having a frusto-conical section adapted to be in crosswise alignment with the cap but spaced outwardly therefrom in position of use, said pusher assembly comprising a pusher plate located within the cylindrical section of the sleeve section and contoured at its bottom side to engage the cap and a rod connected to the top side of the pusher plate and mounted for axial displacement relative the sleeve section, said annular punch comprising a supporting ring and a plurality of resilient blades depending from the periphery of said ring in side by side relationship between said cylindrical section and said pusher plate with each of the blades having an outwardly extending bulbous portion forming a collar in crosswise alignment with the frusto-conical section of the cylindrical section when in position of use and a seat on the inner surface and a resilient coil spring mounted in said seat in crosswise alignment with said collar and in which the annular punch is mounted on the rod for axial sliding movement thereon relative to the sleeve section and the pusher assembly, means on the rod for engagement with said annular punch when in raised position and for engagement with the sleeve section when in lowered position thereby to define the limits of movement of said pusher assembly and punch relative to the sleeve section, and means constantly urging said punch in the direction away from the pusher plate towards raised position.

2. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the bulbous portion is on the end of the blades of the annular punch.

3. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the bulbous portion is adapted to be disposed between the skirt of the cap and the trusto-conical section on the cylindrical sleeve section when in position of use.

4. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for limiting movement of the pusher assembly and punch relative to the sleeve section comprises abutments fixed to the rod in axially spaced apart relation.

5. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the seats in the blades comprise crosswise extending recesses in the inner faces of the blades in which the coil spring is received.

6. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the coil spring is formed with flattened ends.

7. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the means constantly urging the pusher assembly axially in the direction away from the punch assembly comprises a coil spring located within the punch assembly and about the rod with one end of the spring bearing against the punch assembly while the other end bears against the pusher plate.

8. A crimping tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the frusto-conical section which forms a part of the cylindrical section comprises a resilient member in which the inner surface provides a cam surface in position to be engaged by the collar on the blades of the punch to efiect lateral displacements thereof responsive to relative axial movements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,642,213 6/ 1953 Goldsmith 53-357 FOREIGN PATENTS 433,064 4/1948 Italy. 1,075,631 10/1954 France.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner. E. F. DESMOND, Examiner. 

1. A TOOL FOR CRIMPING A CAP ONTO THE BEADED OR GROOVED MOUTH OF A CONTAINER IN WHICH THE CAP IS A SHEET MEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL BODY PROTION, AN INTERMEDIATE EXPANDABLE PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE BODY PORTION, A SKIRT PORTION DEPENDING FROM THE OUTER EDGE OF THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION AND A BEAD ON THE END OF THE SKIRT, SAID CRIMPING TOOL COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF A STATIONARY OUTER SLEEVE SECTION, A PUSHER ASSEMBLY AND AN ANNULAR PUNCH MOUNTED INTERMEDIATE THE SLEEVE SECTION AND THE PUSHER ASSEMBLY, SAID SLEEVE SECTION COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL SECTION HAVING A CROSSWISE DIMENSION GREATER THAN THE CROSSWISE DIMENSION OF THE CAP AND HAVING A FRUSTO-CONICAL SECTION ADAPTED TO BE IN CROSSWISE ALIGNMENT WITH THE CAP BUT SPACED OUTWARDLY THEREFROM IN POSITION OF USE, SAID PUSHER ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PUSHER PLATE LOCATED WITHIN THE CYLINDRICAL SECTION OF THE SLEEVE SECTION AND CONTOURED AT ITS BOTTOM SIDE TO ENGAGE THE CAP AND A ROD CONNECTED TO THE TOP SIDE OF THE PUSHER PLATE AND MOUNTED FOR AXIAL DISPLACEMENT RELATIVE THE SLEEVE SECTION, SAID ANNULAR PUNCH COMPRISING A SUPPORTING RING AND A PLURALITY OF RESILIENT BLADES DEPENDING FROM THE PERIPHERY OF SAID RING IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAID CYLINDRICAL SECTION AND SAID PUSHER PLATE WITH EACH OF THE BLADES HAVING AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING BULBOUS PORTION FORMING A COLLAR IN CROSSWISE ALIGNMENT WITH THE FRUSTO-CONICAL SECTION OF THE CYLINDRICAL SECTION WHEN IN POSITION OF USE AND A SEAT ON THE INNER SURFACE AND A RESILI- 